Shikhar special floors Windies

June 12, 2013

Shikhar_specialLondon, Jun 12: A sparkling all-round show from India lit up the gloomy London skies as MS Dhoni and company booked their place in the semifinals of the Champions Trophy with a match to spare against Pakistan.

In their second Group B clash here at The Oval against the West Indies, Indians produced another dominant performance to register a comprehensive eight-wicket win to become the first team in the eight-team tournament to enter the last-four stage.

The Indian victory reduced their final league match against Pakistan, who are without a victory after two matches, to an inconsequential one as the winner of the match between South Africa and West Indies, both on one win each, will go through to the semifinals.

After a disciplined bowling show that restricted West Indies to 233/9, India rode on another century stand between their openers – Shikhar Dhawan (102 n.o., 107b, 10x4, 1x6) and Rohit Sharma (52, 56b, 7x4) – to reply with 236/2.

Play was briefly halted in the second session due to a drizzle but even if the play had been stopped at that point in time (with score reading 204/2 in 35.1 overs), India would have emerged comfortable winners as they were 76 runs ahead by Duckworth-Lewis method.

Ravindra Jadeja (5/36) was India’s star performer with the ball as the 24-year-old bagged his first five-wicket haul in one-day internationals while West Indies owed their eventual total to Johnson Charles’ 55-ball 60 (8x4, 2x6) at the top of the order and Darren Sammy’s furious unbeaten 56 (35b, 5x4, 4x6) towards the end.

Dhawan, lucky to survive at least on one occasion, once again came up with an authoritative show to lead India’s batting charge while Rohit appeared progressively at home in his new position. If Rohit’s strokes off the square and through the covers were a sight for sore eyes, Dhawan’s improvisation while executing his shots was exemplary.

Together they raised 101 runs in less than 16 overs to all but kill the chase. Rohit’s dismissal after a review of the decision for caught-behind, was quickly followed by Virat Kohli’s early departure, but that proved to be nothing more than a storm in a tea cup.

The match also witnessed DRS being used four times, two each by India and West Indies, with the latter losing their second appeal against Dhawan.

The Delhi opener also brought up his third international hundred, following his scores of 174 (in Test) and 114 against Australia and South Africa. In the process of his second successive ODI ton, which he brought up in style with a six over third man, he added 109 runs for the unbroken third wicket with Dinesh Karthik (51 n.o., 54b, 8x4).

Jadeja appeared to have India right on top before Darren Sammy’s belligerent unbeaten knock provided West Indies with a sniff of a chance. Jadeja’s regular strikes in his first spell had helped India baulk West Indies’ solid start. Once the left-arm spinner trapped Charles in front with a faster one, the Caribbeans lost the way slipping to 109 for four, his first spell reading an impressive 3/10 from five overs.

Cameos from skipper Dwayne Bravo (25) and Kieron Pollard (32) ensured Windies would end with a respectable total but it was Sammy’s 35-ball 56 that hurt India towards the end. The last two overs leaked 35 runs as West Indies got themselves something on board to defend.

Expectedly, the weather remained gloomy. Dhoni not surprisingly opted to bowl first, having made no changes to the playing 11 which took on South Africa in their opener.

West Indies were forced to make one change, necessitated by the absence of Denesh Ramdin through a two-match suspension. The stumper’s ban, however, proved to be a blessing in disguise for the West Indies as his replacement, Sammy, gave them the much-needed flourish.

At 182 for nine, West Indies looked destined to fold up without completing their quota of overs. Sammy, as if to prove a point, forged a 51-run stand for the unbroken final wicket off just 27 balls with last man Kemar Roach’s contribution being a grand zero! Sammy’s effort, however, proved too little in the end.

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Agencies
January 25,2020

Headingley, Jan 25: England have become the first team in the world to score 500,000 runs in Test cricket. They achieved the feat during the ongoing fourth and final Test against South Africa being played at The Wanderers.

On Friday - the opening day of the Test match -- England captain Joe Root's single through the covers took the Three Lions to a landmark 500,000 run-mark in the longest format of the game. They achieved the feat in their 1022nd Test match.

Australia comes second in the list, with 432,706 runs in 830 Tests. India, meanwhile, are third, with 273,518 runs in 540 Tests, followed by West Indies (270,441 runs in 545 Tests).

In the third Test played at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth, England had become the first team to play 500 Test matches on foreign soil. Australia are the second team to play the most away Test with 404 matches they have played so far.

India have played 268 Tests on foreign soil in which they have won 51, lost 113 and 104 have ended in a draw.

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News Network
March 28,2020

Milan, Mar 28: Juventus star Paulo Dybala revealed how he "struggled to breathe" after contracting coronavirus which has killed over 9,000 people in Italy.

The Argentine international announced last Saturday he was one of three Juventus players to catch the virus along with Daniele Rugani and Blaise Matuidi, who both had no symptoms.

"I feel better now after some strong symptoms," the 26-year-old Dybala told JTV channel.

"A couple of days ago I was not well, I felt heavy and after five minutes of movement I had to stop because I was struggling to breathe.

"Now I can move and walk to start trying to train, because when I tried in the past few days I started to shake too much.

"I gasped for air and as a result I couldn't do anything, after five minutes I was already very tired, I felt the body heavy and my muscles hurt.

"Now I'm fine. My fiancee Oriana (Sabatini) has also overcome the symptoms."

Dybala has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, including in league leader's Juventus's last game against Inter Milan before Serie A and all sport in Italy was suspended.

"The goal against Inter was the greatest emotion, (Aaron) Ramsey provided the perfect assist - it's a pity that there was no public," added Dybala.

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Agencies
May 17,2020

Berlin, May 17: Top-flight football in Germany kicked off again on the weekend, becoming the first major sports league in the world to resume play, as parts of Europe took more tentative steps towards normality after the devastation unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic.

With the worldwide death toll past 310,000 and the global economy reeling from the vast damage caused by lockdowns, the reopenings in some of the hardest-hit countries provided much-needed relief from the pandemic.

The French returned to the beach and Italy announced a resumption of European tourism with outbreaks in Europe slowing, but the rising number of fatalities in the United States and Brazil were a grim reminder of the scale of the crisis, with more than 4.6 million infections reported globally.

With governments trying to reopen their economies while avoiding the second wave of infections that could necessitate more lockdowns, Germany's Bundesliga resumed its season on Saturday with games played in vacant, echoing stadiums.

League heavyweights Borussia Dortmund hosted rivals Schalke at the all-but-empty Signal Iduna Park -- which would usually be packed with more than 80,000 raucous fans.

"It's sad that matches are played in empty stadiums, but it's better than nothing," said 45-year-old Borussia Dortmund fan Marco Perz, beer in hand, as he prepared to watch the game on TV.

Dortmund's Erling Braut Haaland became the first player to score a goal after the two-month shutdown and celebrated by dancing alone -- away from his applauding teammates -- in keeping with the strict hygiene guidelines which allowed the league to resume.

The only noise was the cheering and clapping of players and coaches.

League champions Bayern Munich will play Union Berlin in the capital on Sunday, with the resumption in Germany seen as a test case as other top sports competitions try to find ways to resume play without increasing health risks.

"The whole world will be looking at Germany, to see how we get it done," said Bayern boss Hansi Flick.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy, however, said Saturday he needed more guarantees before the government can give the green light for the resumption of its top football league, which is struggling with logistical difficulties as clubs try to arrange training sessions and quarantine facilities.

With the Northern Hemisphere's summer approaching, authorities are moving to help tourism industries salvage something from the wreckage.

Italy, for a long stretch the world's worst-hit country, announced that European Union tourists would be allowed to visit from June 3 and a 14-day mandatory quarantine would be scrapped.

"We're facing a calculated risk in the knowledge that the contagion curve may rise again," Conte said during a televised address.

"We have to accept it otherwise we will never be able to start up again."

In France, the first weekend after the strictest measures were lifted saw many ventures out into the spring sunshine -- and hit the beach.

In the Riviera city of Nice, keen swimmers jumped into the surf at daybreak.

"We were impatient because we swim here all year round," said retiree Gilles, who declined to give his full name.

With the threat of a second wave of infections on their minds, authorities in many countries have asked people not to throng public spaces like beaches as they are made accessible again.

Officials in parts of England on Saturday warned people to stay away from newly reopened beauty spots and avoid overcrowding.

Germany also saw the latest in a growing wave of anti-lockdown protests in many parts of the world, with rallies in major cities bringing together conspiracy theorists, anti-vaccine activists and other extremists.

There were similar protests in France, Switzerland and Poland.

Since emerging in China late last year, the coronavirus has whipped up a catastrophic economic storm, which has left tens of millions unemployed in the United States and many are wondering when a recovery will be possible.

With more than 88,000 deaths and 1.47 million confirmed coronavirus cases, the United States is the worst-hit country on the planet, and the administration of President Donald Trump has faced intense criticism of the way it has handled the crisis.

Former president Barack Obama took a swipe at the response to the pandemic, telling graduates at a virtual commencement ceremony that many leaders today "aren't even pretending to be in charge" -- a remark widely regarded as a rare rebuke of his successor.

Trump is keen to reopen the US economy -- the world's largest -- despite warnings from experts that infections could flare up again if social distancing measures are eased too quickly.

Forty-eight of the 50 US states have now eased lockdown rules to some extent.

Much like Trump and his political allies, Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is also keen to end lockdowns, which he claims have unnecessarily damaged the South American nation's economy over a disease he has dismissed as "a little flu".

But the virus has continued its deadly march in Brazil, where the death toll passed 15,000 on Saturday and it became the country with the fourth-largest coronavirus caseload with 230,000 infections.

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